Interview with Adam Carroll

But he starts 2009 in an uncharacteristic position, having secured a full championship programme with Team Ireland in A1GP, and he has already rewarded their faith by taking the points lead going into the mid-season break. As the action resumes in New Zealand this weekend, Carroll spoke to autosport.com about his change of fortune.

Q. So you head off to Taupo leading the championship, that must be a nice position to be in at the start of the year?

Adam Carroll: It is indeed. It's where we wanted to be going into Sepang, and that's what we did and to win a race in the way we did, the car feels very, very strong.

Q. So what's changed from the first three years when Team Ireland had a rollercoaster ride of form?

AC: There are a number of things. Dave [O'Neill] has been team manager for three years, Mark [Gallagher] has been there from the start. They've worked extremely hard, but unfortunately in the past they haven't had the results to go with that hard work. I joined the line-up last year and it took longer than we'd hoped to get a result. We won in Mexico and then had a couple of podiums towards then end of the season.

But I think last year we were still weak in a number of areas, the car as well was something that took a lot of getting used to - it was just strange. It was always unpredictable, didn't give you much feeling and was very inconsistent, so as a driver - and everybody was - left scratching your head every now and again thinking 'what happened there?'. But it made for some interesting races!

But I think what's happened this year with the new car, it's levelled the playing field. The team has done a fantastic job of building the car, putting it together, and Gerry (Hughes) has come on board and that's one area we were not strong in at all. The new car suits me a lot more with the Michelin tyres and a lot of downforce, it's a real racing car. The guys put in the hard work before but we didn't quite have all the pieces of the puzzle, but now we do.

Q. For the past two years you've had incomplete seasons, picking up whatever GP2 drives became available. How has it felt to have a regular drive?

AC: It's great - actually it's starting to get boring! It's really good and it's something I've never really had before really. I think it's been six or seven years since I was in this position. When I was racing GP2 I never really knew if I was going to have a race seat each weekend, which was hard, but you kind of get used to being in that situation and I didn't really know what it was like to have a stable drive and to get to know the team and the people around you.

And that's the big difference. As a good racing driver you always push hard and fight, but having time to prepare and relax does make quite a big difference.

Q. It's been a long time since you won a championship. What would it mean to you to take the A1 title?

AC: It would mean everything. It's probably the best opportunity I've ever had. Obviously when I started in GP2 I would have loved to have had a crack at the title, but as you said I never had the budget to go to a top team and have the consistency from a car and a team to allow me to win a championship, and that's where this year is different. I love racing in A1GP, it's extremely hard and competitive, and to win that would make me very happy.

Q. So where would it go from there? I'm sure you still harbour some F1 ambitions?

AC: Absolutely! I'd love to go to F1. I'm 26 now, so I'm not too old just yet. The more experience you get the better it makes you and I really feel if I got an opportunity now I'd be ready for it, that I could go in with the right amount of testing and do the job.

Q. When you see people you've raced and beat like Timo Glock doing well, how does that make you feel?

AC: It's very reassuring. When I see the guys who've come through who I ran with and beat in F3 and GP2 it's great because I know I can still do it. All it requires are circumstances to be different and I believe through A1 I will get an opportunity to go back to F1.